Hi all,

I had the following response from BA that resulted from a 5 hour delay earlier this month. They refused the claim, but I'm not sure that it should end here, based on the first posts in this thread. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

BA Quote:

Your claim for compensation has been refused because flight BAXXX on XX December 2013 was delayed due to unexpected flight safety shortcomings, which prevented the aircraft operating as scheduled. Under EU legislation, British Airways is not liable for a compensation payment in this situation.

During our final safety checks of the previous flight, we noticed a fuel leak under the wing prior to departure, which led to aircraft change. As the aircraft had been maintained in accordance with the manufacturers guidelines, this constitutes as extraordinary circumstances and could not have been avoided.

Unfortunately airline operations are subject to circumstances outside the airline's control. British Airways takes all reasonable measures to avoid delaying a flight in such circumstances. Consideration is given to whether there are any operational options available before a decision to delay is made. We are sorry that the delay was necessary in this case.

Thanks,

scotti81